Club Godolphin Cesarewitch Stakes

Heritage Handicap,
Newmarket 15:40
£175,000 guaranteed, 3yo plus,
2m 2f, Class 2   
Saturday 12th October 2024

FormRatings

1 Alphonse Le Grande 33/1
2 Manxman 7/1
3 Aqwaam 33/1
4 Run For Oscar 18/1
24 ran NR: Sixandahalf Distances: nse, ½l, ¾l, 1¼l
Time: 3m 57.42s (slow by 8.92s)

14 Nov Connections of Alphonse Le Grande have successfully appealed his disqualification from first place in the Cesarewitch at Newmarket, and he has been reinstated as the winner. Apprentice jockey Jamie Powell was initially deemed to have used his whip 10 times in the closing stages, four more than the permitted allowance. As a result, the Whip Review Committee awarded the historic handicap to the Simon and Ed Crisford-trained Manxman, who had been beaten by a nose.

Trainer Cathy O’Leary and the Bet Small Win Big Syndicate, along with Powell, who had received a 28-day suspension, appealed the decision. An independent British Horseracing Authority disciplinary panel concluded that one of Powell’s strikes was not intentional, as he made contact with the horse while moving his whip from one hand to the other.

Panel chair Sarah Crowther KC explained, “We find that his body position was different from the first nine strikes. He was somewhat crouched and off balance to his left and very low in the saddle. While his arm and hand were in the same angle as the previous strikes, the change in body position and the different stride of the horse changed the angle of the strike. It was common ground that as Mr. Powell retrieved his whip from that strike, pulling it back towards his right-hand side and bringing it forward, there was contact. The question for us was whether that contact constituted use of the whip.”

She continued, “Adopting a pragmatic interpretation of the word ‘use’ in the context of the rules as a whole and from our experience of panel racing, we find it is not every single contact between a whip and a horse that will amount to a use. Specifically, in this case, we find the contact was made in circumstances where Mr. Powell was retrieving his stick from the wrong side of the horse, and it was effectively an unavoidable contact that could not have had any material impact on the performance of the horse. Therefore, we find that in total there were nine uses, three above the permitted level. The horse will be reinstated, and the suspension will be 20 days.”

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After a grueling two-and-a-quarter-mile race, just a nose separated the top two as Alphonse Le Grande edged out Manxman to win the Club Godolphin Cesarewitch Handicap at Newmarket. However, it seems there might be a twist for the connections involved.

The five-year-old completed a rare treble, having already won the consolation races for the Chester Cup and the Northumberland Plate earlier in the season, and now securing the main event. Since June, he has been under the care of Cathy O’Leary, as Tony Martin serves a suspension for anti-doping violations.

Unfortunately, this victory may be overshadowed as winning apprentice jockey Jamie Powell appears to have used his whip 10 times, exceeding the permitted level by four. This issue has been referred to the British Horseracing Authority Whip Review Committee, which will review the matter on Tuesday and could lead to the disqualification of the winner.

Despite not having a full field for the second leg of the autumn double, the race was packed with drama. At one point, the runners split into two distinct groups before spreading out across the track. With two furlongs to go, Aqwaam seemed to have the advantage on the far side, but Alphonse Le Grande, a 33-1 shot, broke through under Powell on the opposite side.

Manxman emerged with a powerful late run, almost catching Alphonse Le Grande on the line but falling short by the narrowest margin.

O’Leary praised the jockey, saying, “It was down to our jockey. It was a great ride, and he brought him over for better ground. He’s a little horse with a big heart, and he got a great ride. I think he might be going for a holiday after winning three big races; he deserves it.”

Powell, initially unaware of his breach, said, “I thought I was beaten and asked Sean (D Bowen on Manxman) pulling up. He thought he had won. It’s never great when you don’t know, but seeing my name on the screen was fantastic. I’m delighted to win for Cathy and the team. The horse took me everywhere; I was just a passenger today, but he was tough at the finish and got his head in front.”

Simon Crisford, commenting on Manxman’s run, said, “He was given a fantastic ride and put all his heart into it. We all really fancied him today, and he’s run like a really nice progressive stayer for next year.”

Chief steward Tony McGlone explained, “From a stewarding point of view, we identify a possible rule breach. We then ask the jockey for a comment after watching the film and send the film and comments to the Whip Review Committee, which will decide on Tuesday. The stewards don’t make the decision; we identify and send the information to the Committee.”

A British Horseracing Authority spokesperson confirmed, “The ride by Jamie Powell on Alphonse Le Grande has been referred to the Whip Review Committee. No breach has yet been found, and the horse will not be disqualified unless the Committee determines that the whip was used four times or more above the permitted level.”

SureWIn

Cesarewitch Stakes (Heritage Handicap)
£175,000 guaranteed, 3yo plus, 2m 2f, Class 2
24 ran
Going: Soft

POS. (DRAW) DIST HORSE AGE WGT TRAINER JOCKEY SP
1 (19)    Alphonse Le Grande 5 8-6 Mrs C O'Leary Jamie Powell 33/1
2 (4) nse Manxman 4 8-5 4ex Simon & Ed Crisford Sean D Bowen 7/1
3 (2) ½ Run For Oscar 9 9-8 C Byrnes Rossa Ryan 33/1
4 (22) ¾ Aqwaam 6 8-9 Ian Williams Trevor Whelan 18/1
5 (8) 1¼ Magellan Strait 5 9-3 Joseph O'Brien Oisin Orr 50/1
6 (18) 1¼ Dawn Rising 7 9-9 Joseph O'Brien Tom Marquand 8/1
7 (17) 1¼ Anna Bunina 8 8-4 John C McConnell Tom Kiely-Marshall 25/1
8 (12) 1¼ Reverend Hubert 6 8-2 C Byrnes Sean Davis 33/1
9 (13) ¾ Bashful Boy 8 8-3 David Pipe Josephine Gordon 40/1
10 (14) 2¼ Jacovec Cavern 5 8-2 2 Emmet Mullins Hayley Turner 5/1J
11 (25) 1 Queenstown 4 9-12 A P O'Brien Ryan Moore 12/1
12 (11) 1¼ Sea Of Sands 6 9-2 W P Mullins William Buick 5/1J
13 (5) hd Trooper Bisdee 4 8-11 Sir Mark Prescott Bt Rhys Clutterbuck 22/1
14 (7) ½ Evaluation 6 8-10 Lucinda Russell Rowan Scott 40/1
15 (15) 5½ The Shunter 11 9-4 Emmet Mullins James Doyle 20/1
16 (10) shd Premiere Ligne 5 8-3 Hughie Morrison Jack Doughty 9/1
17 (3) nk Zealandia 7 8-7 Ian Williams J F Egan 80/1
18 (9) 3¼ Samui 5 9-10 Gordon Elliott Keithen Kennedy 18/1
19 (6) hd Spirit Mixer 6 8-10 7ex Andrew Balding Oisin Murphy 18/1
20 (21) nk Story Horse 4 8-2 William Knight Tyler Heard 50/1
21 (24) 2¼ Lady Percival 6 8-2 Hughie Morrison Connor Planas 50/1
22 (1) 7 Shagpyle 4 8-5 William Muir & Chris Grassick Frederick Larson 80/1
23 (23) 3¾ Roberto Escobarr 7 9-8 Ian Williams Marco Ghiani 125/1
24 (16) 99 Ndaawi 4 8-11 Gordon Elliott Jamie Spencer 7/1
NR 14 (20) Sixandahalf 4 8-8 Gavin Cromwell NON RUNNER

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